western manitoba – beetles mating on columbine
Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Hello there. Could you help me identify these lovely bugs mating on some columbine in our Riding Mountain National Park official gardens. I took the photo just today – it’s July 1st.
Their lower backs seem to be silver or transparent.
Thank you so much for your time.
M.M.
Clear Lake, Manitoba – Riding Mountain National Park

Mating Twice Stabbed Stink Bugs

Dear M.M.,
These are not mating beetles, but mating Twice-Stabbed Stink Bugs, Cosmopepla lintneriana.  According to BugGuide, it is “Formerly Cosmopepla bimaculata , and still listed that way by most guides.”  BugGuide also indicates:  “Adults suck plant juices from many different plants: thistles, mints, goldenrods, ragweeds, columbines.” The Columbine is our favorite flower, and we want to post your photo uncropped, but we are also cropping in closer to better showcase the Twice Stabbed Stink Bugs.

Twice Stabbed Stink Bugs Mating

Brightly Colored Beetle?
Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 5:43 PM
This past weekend was warm and sunny, so I decided to hang a comforter out to dry on our back porch railing. Musch to my suprise, later that day I discovered 20 or so bright colored bugs congregating on my comforter! They were crawling around in a small area and would stay very close to one another regardless of my probing and prodding. Later in the day, they dissappered and I’ve not seen them since! What were my mysterious visitors??
Curious, Glen Allen, VA
Glen Allen, VA

Florida Predatory Stink Bug Nymphs

Dear Curious,
We have just returned from a week in Ohio visiting family, and we have volumes of email to address. We plan to just skip around and select subject lines that catch our attention. Since we also have a neglected garden and some Euonymus, Golden Chain Tree and Iris from Mom’s garden to plant , we decided to only post one email to let our readership know that we are back. Your subject line caught our attention. Your photo of Florida Predatory Stink Bug nymphs, Euthyrhynchus floridanus, will be our only posting until much later. We love your photograph with the strong directional lighting. When Florida Predatory Stink Bugs first hatch, they stick together, but they will eventually become solitary hunters that are quite beneficial in the garden since they feed on caterpillars and beetles. This species is also sometimes known as the Halloween Bug, according to BugGuide, because of the adult black and orange coloration. We can’t help but wonder what the other side of your comforter looks like and if it is a family heirloom.

Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Thanks so much for your response!  I’m glad to hear that these bugs are beneficial, and was facinated learn of their social qualities.  I’ll keep an eye out for these when they ultimately mature to their black and orange adult forms!
That comforter was actually a gift from my Mom some years ago and it has held up for 15 years or so.  Definately not an heirloom, but maybe it will be someday!

Stunning Assassin
Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Found this one today. Only small so hopefully it is not just an early instar of something plain or horrible, it would be a shame to see it grow out of this stunning colour scheme. Hope you like it.
aussitrev
Queensland, A

Orange Black Stink Bug

Hi Trevor,
While we agree that your insect is stunning, we disagree that it is an Assassin Bug.  It is actually an Orange Black Stink Bug, Novatilla virgata, and we identified it on the Brisbane Insect Website.  This is an adult insect as it is winged, and its coloration will not change.

Orange Black Stink Bug

shiny stinkbug colony
Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 8:49 AM
dear bugman
I found a bunch of stinkbugs huddled on a leaf in a mangrove swamp.Could you help me identify them?Why are they huddled together?Are they laying eggs?
Thanks
Curious
Singapore

Jewel Bugs

Dear Curious,
In our opinion, there are Shield Bugs or Jewel Bugs in the family Scutelleridae, not Stink Bugs in the family Pentatomidae. Interestingly, the closest image we could locate online is on the Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore website, and the matching insects are identified as Calliphara nobilis in the Family Pentatomidae and indicates: “Larvae are found only on Excoecaria agallocha, feeding on developing seeds, but adults can be abundant in gregarious swarms beneath any large leaves (e.g., Rhizophora spp.) and disperse with a loud buzzing when disturbed.” The plant that is mentioned as the larval food, Excoecaria agallocha or Buta-Buta, looks identical to the plant leaf in your photo. We tried searching that name, and found a mounted specimen on an Australian Government website, but the colors are different and the spots are larger and the family is identified as Scutelleridae. The spot size may be variable and the colors may fade with death. An untranslated Asian website has many images of the species, and other than being much greener than your image, they look remarkably similar.  Sadly, the species is not represented on one of these lovely stamps.

Jewel Bugs

Black and Yellow Bug
Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 1:43 PM
These beetles or bugs were found on two different acacia species about 25km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. I have been unable to find any pictures on the web which remotely resemble them.
Dr David Hewitt
25 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

possibly Immature Parent Bugs

Dear Dr Hewitt,
We believe these are immature Stink Bugs, but we are having trouble identifying the species. Many times, immature Stink Bugs or nymphs look radically different from the adults. Hopefully one of our faithful Australian readers will be able to identify the exact species.

Possibly Parent Bug Nymphs

These bugs have similar markings to Cantao parentum nymphs, although the colour (yellow) is different from the orange of the Cantao parentum.
Grev

Thanks Grev,
If you are correct, and we believe you may be correct, then these immature Parent Bugs are actually Shield Bugs in the family Scutelliridae and not Stink Bugs in the family Pentatomidae. They are called Parent Bugs because unlike most insects, the female guards the young nymphs for several weeks. The original letter indicates they were found on Acacia, and a website we linked to indicates: “its food plant, Mallotus claoxyloides (Smell of the Bush) .” This general color pattern is one that is common on several species of Stink Bugs in North America.  Another Australian Insect Website lists these food plants:  “Found on the Red Kamala (Mallotus philippensis) and other such species from the family (M. claoxyloides, M. discolor) and also Araucaria cunninghammii ” but does not mention Acacia.  This may still be an unidentified Stink Bug nymph.

Beautiful Costa Rican Beetle
Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 8:08 PM
Dear Bugman,
My friend John just snapped this shot of an absolutely beautiful beetle a couple of days ago in the Guanacaste area of Costa Rica (Pacific Coast). It was sunning itself on the edge of our pool, and flew away after it’s photo was taken. I’ve been traveling to Costa Rica for about 10 years, and have seen many beautiful insects and spiders, but I think this one is my favorite so far.
Can you tell me what it is?
Sue
Cental America, Guanacaste Costa Rica

Unknown Stink Bug

Hi Sue,
Your “beautiful beetle” is actually not a beetle. It goes by the decidedly not beautiful name of a Stink Bug. We are not sure of the species, and we may have time to do additional research in the future, but for the moment, we are posting your photo of a Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae in the hopes that one of our readers will be able to provide a species name.

Thank you – I’ll watch the site to find out what your readers have to say. Ahhh well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder – but the nose always knows! Thank you for your response.
Sue
I am almost certain that your Costa Rican stink bug is Brachystethus rubromaculatus, which occurs from Mexico to Panama. If you are really interested, there is a rather technical document which includes a species description and illustration (look for Fig. 2) located at: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/isz/v93n4/a08v93n4.pdf Regards.
Karl

Unidentified Flying Bug
Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 8:50 PM
I never started noticing these bugs before this year. I’ve killed lots of bugs in my family’s house, because I live in our basement. I first started noticing these bugs outside on my car. They were well camouflaged, flat, and every time I saw one I swore it was pentagonal. I have just recently discovered that these flat beetlish things can fly. I just killed two in under five minutes that were flying around the overhead light in our basement. They looked like large moths when they were flying, but when I smacked them down with a flyswatter they were smaller, their underbellies a yellowish-cream color. Their inside fluids smell terrible, like moldy soap scum or dull mothballs.
I’m sorry I’m only giving you a picture of a dead one. They looked greenish outside, but in the picture I discovered they were brown. I just want to know if there’s some kind of infestation going on in my house. Sorry to be so negative, but I once had a bad experience with a spider looking bug laying eggs in my hair and now want to kill all bugs.
The insides were yellow and red, if that helps.
A flustered murderer
Arlington, VA

Brochymena Carnage

Dear Flustered Murderer,
You have swatted a Stink Bug in the genus Brochymena, commonly called Tree Stink Bugs. Stink Bugs and other Hemipterans like the Western Conifer Seed Bug often enter homes for shelter when cool weather sets in. They will not damage your home and they pose no threat to you except for the annoyance they may cause. Brochymena species are predatory on other insects, most notably caterpillars.

Flat Yellow Insect from the backyard
Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 1:25 AM
Dear Bugman,
We hope you can help us identify an insect that my son found in the backyard in a paved area. It is about the size of a 5 cent coin, flat and yellow in colour with a black spot in the middle if its back and a thin black line around the edge of its body. It has black and yellow stripes on the antennae. it does not appear to have any wings and is happy to sit and walk around on my sons hand. He thinks it is lovely and want to keep it as a pet and find out what it eats!
Bug lovers
Australia (Gold Coast)

Bronze Orange Bug Nymph

Hi Bug Lovers,
The reason your Bronze Orange Bug, Musgraveia sulciventris, doesn’t have wings is that it is an immature nymph.  We found matching images on the Geocities website where the text indicates that they suck the sap from citrus tree leaves and twigs.

Florida Predatory Stinkbug ?
Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Hi to all who have helped me,
I was so blown away by this stink bug.  I read somewhere that it had a 4 section  beak?.  Looks like a sectional proboscis of sorts.  I could not believe the orange “beak”  I had to work to get this photo and that is always fun.  It was well worth the “coaxing” to get these shots.  I just had to see what the article was about (no photos).
How does this “beak” get  back into his  “mouthpart” for lack of a better description or does it store underneath?   I could not see how he did that I think this is so cool.  Maybe you know a stinkbug Dr. you could pass this along to.
Thanks,
Janis Osborne
Duluth, GA
Oct. 2008

Florida Predatory Stink Bug

Hi Janis,
Thanks so much for sending your awesome photo of a Florida Predatory Stink Bug, Euthyrhynchus floridanus.  It is a welcomed addition to our archive.